How The Night Stacks Up:

The third installment of a series is rarely any good (Matrix Revolutions, Rocky III, the inning number 3 of every baseball game ever played), but Night 3 of the Rumble preliminaries has an interesting narrative: four bands with very distinct sounds that should make it hard for the judges to walk in with any presumptions. From Idle Pilot's complex post-whatever compositions and Field Day's riffy indie-pop to Salem Wolves high-octane witch-punk and Shatner's pile-driving, out-of-fucks-to-give brand of rock, the competition will be left out on the floor. Three will be someone's magic number.

Get To Know The Bands:

BIO:Equal parts loud, ugly, melodic and cathartic, Shatner formed in Boston in 2014. This drunk, lumbering beast is the sum of parts made up of members of renowned Boston outfits Black Thai, Cocked N Loaded, Tired Old Bones, and We’re All Gonna Die. Shatner knows that a pedigree is worthless without the songs to back it up, so in their live shows, they deliver what they promise.

VIDEO YOU NEED TO WATCH: There don’t appear to be many Shatner videos on YouTube (and you try searching that band name, Bill), so here are more songs from the EP

WHY THEY CAN WIN: When Shatner hit the stage late Tuesday night, we’ll be 11 bands deep into the Rock and Roll Rumble, and many will be looking forward to that traditional Wednesday “day of rest”. You know what the office is like on a Friday before a three-day-weekend in Boston? Either everyone is checked out and already on Interstate 93, or it’s Lord of the Flies. Shatner’s thunderous rock and roll should provide a necessary jolt, and ensure the room has woken the fuck up. Plus, you just don’t mess with dudes from Cocked N’ Loaded.